Yes, I think with the Great Fast soon upon us, we will be seeing a drastic increase in the number of posters. I also found that certain periods during the month are less prone to visitors. Since Spring Break is around the corner, parents might be staying home with kids, vacation, etc.

Btw, happy Cheesefare Week y'all! I enjoyed a great "maslenitsa" at my church after Divine Liturgy yesteday. Kielbasa and blini were the main entre items.

Hypo-Ortho

Dear-to-Christ Hypo-Ortho,

Maslenitsa by the Orthodox (Julian) computation is not until March 9th this year. Cheesfare = Maslenitsa/-Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£-Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â¦-ÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¼-+-Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â¦-+-+-ÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¥-Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â¦. This past Sunday, March 2nd, was Meatfare for the overwhelming majority of Orthodox. (Finland and isolated parishes elsewhere excepted.) Are you in Finland? Are you Catholic?

For those who observed Meatfare on Sunday, no meat will be eaten until Pascha, certainly not on Cheesefare.

Hypo-Ortho

Btw, happy Cheesefare Week y'all! I enjoyed a great "maslenitsa" at my church after Divine Liturgy yesteday. Kielbasa and blini were the main entre items.

Hypo-Ortho

Dear-to-Christ Hypo-Ortho,

Maslenitsa by the Orthodox (Julian) computation is not until March 9th this year. Cheesfare = Maslenitsa/-Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£-Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â¦-ÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¼-+-Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â¦-+-+-ÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¥-Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â¦. This past Sunday, March 2nd, was Meatfare for the overwhelming majority of Orthodox. (Finland and isolated parishes elsewhere excepted.) Are you in Finland? Are you Catholic?

For those who observed Meatfare on Sunday, no meat will be eaten until Pascha, certainly not on Cheesefare.

No, I am not in Finland, and I am indeed Orthodox (OCA). Since my parish is having Forgiveness Vespers immediately after Divine Liturgy next Sunday (Cheesefare/Forgiveness Sunday), March 9, it had its Maslenitsa on March 2, which was Meatfare Sunday, but we are still in Cheesefare Week, as I posted elsewhere. A ROCOR parish I know of had its Maslenitsa three days before ours for the same reason!

In one of my previous parishes on Forgiveness (Cheesefare) Sunday, they would have Divine Liturgy, then Blini dinner (maslenitsa), THEN Forgiveness Vespers.

In another parish, every year the Orthodox priest mistakenly forbids his parishioners from indulging in dairy products even during Cheesefare Week!

Hypo, our practice will be similar to your previous parish. After Divine Liturgy, we will have an extended coffee hour with blini and other cheesefare treats(probably omelets and quiches), with Forgiveness Vespers following immediately thereafter.

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CBBS is the acronym for Christianity.com Bulletin Board System. It is a discussion board with a "Mere Christianity" focus, but seems to be taken over with Protestant Evangelicals who like to call other Christians heretical, especially Catholics and Orthodox. Linus, Oblio, Aklie, and others are attempting to fight the good fight to answer ignorant misinformation about us and present the Church of Christ to those who may have never heard of the Orthodox Church outside of the sponser of ethnic food festivals. If you decide to participate in the site, please maintain a kind and patient demeanor. It seems that we have made an impression on that site by taking the high road and not debasing ourselves in namecalling and posting inflamitory photos as some have. The site may be found at www.christianbbs.com or http://forums.christianity.com. If you want more information, see the To the Orthodox Apologists thread.

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Hypo-Ortho

Hypo, our practice will be similar to your previous parish. After Divine Liturgy, we will have an extended coffee hour with blini and other cheesefare treats(probably omelets and quiches), with Forgiveness Vespers following immediately thereafter.

Yes, Amator (David?), and if we take the words of the Stikhera of the Vespers of Forgiveness literally ("Lex orandi, lex credendi est"), we formally enter into the Great Fast ("with joy") during that Service and should no more eat dairy products until Holy Pascha, if we are among those who keep the Fast strictly in all aspects. I prefer the practice you currently have in your parish and in my former parish, btw.

In another parish where Forgiveness Vespers immediately follows Cheesefare Sunday Liturgy, some worshippers hurriedly leave after Liturgy so as to not be caught attending the Forgiveness Vespers and so be bound by the rules of the Great Fast until sometime in the evening! But they also miss the important and moving Rite of Forgiveness, so necessary for a good start on the Lenten journey to Pascha. Oh, I'm afraid the Pharisees are still among us! And in some years, I was to be found among them, I must confess!

For as long as I've been a member at this parish(5 years) we've had the same practice of Forgiveness Vespers following Coffee Hour, with almost no one ever leaving before Forgiveness Vespers. The primary reason why is that Fr. Marcus makes clear during each of his after liturgy announcements that Forgiveness Vespers is one of the most important services of the year for the community and that at St. Vladimir's students are told that if they do not attend Forgiveness Vespers they may be asked to leave the school(not sure if this has ever happened, though). He treats it very seriously, but if a person honestly cannot make the service(we have a courier who is always on call and is 95% sure he will be on the road at the time) Fr. Marcus asks that person to make peace with the people in their lives before they go, so that all of might start the fast with a "clean slate"(my words not his).

Our rite of forgiveness at the end is a very moving experience as well. As I have never attended this rite at another parish, I'm not sure if what we do is standard. After the benediction at the end of Vespers, Fr. Jacob walks up to Fr. Marcus at the ambvon where they ask each other to forgive them and exchange three kisses. The readers get in line after Fr. Jacob and everyone else behind the readers. When you approach someone, we do a metania and say "forgive me (name)" to which that person replies "God forgives," and we kiss three times. After you go past the last person you join the chain yourself. At the end, we surround the entire perimeter of the building in one long chain of forgiveness and kissing. Many of us shed tears at such a joyous and cleansing event.

What is your Rite of Forgiveness like?

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"When looking at faults, use a mirror, not a telescope."-Yazid Ibrahim

Hypo-Ortho

EXACTLY like yours, David. By the end of the Rite of Forgiveness, not only am I in discomfort from the prostrations done to the ground before the priest, the archdeacon, and *each* parishioner, but I am bathed in sweat and tears!

Any year in which I *intentionally* missed the Forgiveness Vespers (to delay refraining form dairy products, poor excuse!!!) with this moving rite, I reproached myself and made it a point to confess it in the Mystery of Repentance/Confession as soon as possible afterwards.

No, I am not in Finland, and I am indeed Orthodox (OCA). Since my parish is having Forgiveness Vespers immediately after Divine Liturgy next Sunday (Cheesefare/Forgiveness Sunday), March 9, it had its Maslenitsa on March 2, which was Meatfare Sunday, but we are still in Cheesefare Week, as I posted elsewhere. A ROCOR parish I know of had its Maslenitsa three days before ours for the same reason!

In one of my previous parishes on Forgiveness (Cheesefare) Sunday, they would have Divine Liturgy, then Blini dinner (maslenitsa), THEN Forgiveness Vespers.

In another parish, every year the Orthodox priest mistakenly forbids his parishioners from indulging in dairy products even during Cheesefare Week!

Hypo-Ortho

Dear-in-the-Lord Hypo,

Slava na v'iki!

I see. Your parish had its Maslenitsa event on Meatfare Sunday.

I wish you a pleasant rest of Cheesfare week.

Tony

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Hypo-Ortho

Correct, Tony. It is not too uncommon in the parishes in New England to do so, whether ROCOR or OCA. But they still refer to the pre-Lenten meal as "maslenitsa," even if it is held on Meatfare Sunday rather than the Sunday of Cheesefare (Forgiveness) (These crazy Russians! ). They say "farewell" to meat at this Meatfare Sunday "maslenitsa," and have some blini as an entre also to introduce Cheesfare Week.

CBBS is the acronym for Christianity.com Bulletin Board System. It is a discussion board with a "Mere Christianity" focus, but seems to be taken over with Protestant Evangelicals who like to call other Christians heretical, especially Catholics and Orthodox. Linus, Oblio, Aklie, and others are attempting to fight the good fight to answer ignorant misinformation about us and present the Church of Christ to those who may have never heard of the Orthodox Church outside of the sponser of ethnic food festivals. If you decide to participate in the site, please maintain a kind and patient demeanor. It seems that we have made an impression on that site by taking the high road and not debasing ourselves in namecalling and posting inflamitory photos as some have. The site may be found at www.christianbbs.com or http://forums.christianity.com. If you want more information, see the To the Orthodox Apologists thread.

Many thanks. I would certainly say that this approach sounds like the best one, and I would not want to affect that in any way. However, considering my current situation of seeking acceptance in Orthodoxy and therefore beginning all over again in learning I doubt that such debate sites would be for me. I was really only curious about what was meant. And thanks again for clueing me in.